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Memorial Address 



Dedication of Monument 



TO THE MEMORY OF 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 



A Soldier of the Revolution 



ARTHUR W. PEIRCE 



Old Cemetery, Arlington, Mass, 
Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1903 



Memorial Address 



Dedication of Monument 



TO THE MEMORY OF 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 



A Soldier of the Revolution 



BY 



ARTHUR W. PEIRCE 



Old Cemetery, Arlington, Mass. 
Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1903 



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4 



HE TUFTS COLLEGE PRESS 
1904 



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PREFACE 

This little pamphlet is printed at the request of the descend- 
ants of Capt. Solomon Peirce and is dedicated to them. It is 
an attempt to bring back from the fragmentary records of the 
past the story of the life of a patriot ancestor, and to tell of his 
part in the great deeds that were the foundation of the Ameri- 
can nation. Its preparation has been a source of great pleasure 
to the author. He owes thanks to many of the family for 
assistance that alone made it possible to prepare it. While the 
address was written for the occasion of the dedication of a 
monument to a Revolutionary ancestor, it will still better serve 
its purpose if it may quicken his descendants to a deeper inter- 
est in the historical past to which he belonged and to their civic 
duties as descendants of one who had an honored part in the 
first great struggle for American liberty. Worthy sons best 
honor patriot sires. 

ARTHUR W PEIRCE. 

Franklin, Mass., July, 1904. 



I 



MEMORIAL ADDRESS 

The heritage of a historic past of valor and honor was never 
more precious than in this land and in this dav. As our coun- 
try goes on from one degree of greatness to another ; as her 
people spread out and take possession, not only of our own 
broad land, but reach out with beneficent power to lands across 
the sea ; as prosperity increases and America becomes one of 
the great nations of the world, we are looking back ever more 
to the **days of the beginnings", when our sturdy ancestors 
fought their brave battles against oppression and, in the more 
peaceful walks of civic life, mapped out the working plans and 
models of a real and abiding democracy. Every. step forward 
in the Nation's progress makes us realize the more, for how 
great a future those stalwart men were building. We honor 
the fathers of our Republic for their splendid deeds ; we are 
grateful for the priceless heritage they left us. They were in- 
deed a noble ancestry, if ;/<?/ an ancestrv of the nobility, — those 
homespun sires of this great, free people. 

The far-reaching desire to perpetuate the historic deeds and 
keep alive the memory of the men of the old days is abund- 
antly attested by the wide spread interest in the work of patri- 
otic societies like that of the Sons of the American Revolution, 
and in the growing tendency for great family organizations and 
reunions like that of the Fairbanks family held at Dedham last 
week. We give our testimony to the worth of this spirit by 
the pilgrimage we make today to this spot where we gather to 
pay our tribute to the memory of Solomon Peirce, the Revolu- 
tionary ancestor from whom we boast descent. 

This occasion is unique in its setting and in its purpose. In 
years far back of the Revolution, the spot where we stand 
today was even then the church-yard burying-ground of the 
little community. Here **the rude forefathers of the hamlet 



6 CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 

sleep." This was the North West Precinct of Cambridge; 
incorporated in 1732, better known in those days as Menot- 
omy ; made a separate town under the name of West Cam- 
bridge in 1807 ; and the name changed to Arlington in 1867. 
Where yonder church now stands, stood the village church 
from the beginning, and the early structure, transformed and 
rebuilt, still stands as a substantial mansion on this, ** Pleasant 
Street." This was the Second Church in Cambridge, and 
here the man we honor worshipped as do some of his descend- 
ants to the sixth generation. Over the brook which flows 
through this burying-ground for many years stood the village 
schoolhouse where many of your ancestors <* pursued with 
flagging feet the irksome path to knowledge." 

And we are on historic ground as well. In front of us as in 
panoramic display was enacted a large part of one of the great 
dramas of our country's history. A horseman rides in the 
midnight through yonder street on the memorable eighteenth 
of April, 1775, and Paul Revere bears the *' cry of alarm 
to every Middlesex village and farm." Later, past the little 
church, march the hostile British under Col, Smith ; on this 
common an hour or two after. Captain Benjamin Locke mus- 
ters in his Minute-men to follow in pursuit ; and in full mid- 
day of the nineteenth comes Lord Percy with his troops and 
cannon, marching to the rescue of the first defeated and retreat- 
ing column. 

In front of this church and spot was made the first capture 
of troops and stores of the Revolution. A belated convoy of 
provisions and ammunition, following Lord Percy's troops, was 
ambushed and captured by the old men of Menotomy, too 
aged and infirm to be with their comrades at Lexington. 
Tradition says they were lead by a mulatto. Two of the 
British guards were killed and six were captured and the bag- 
gage wagons dragged to a convenient hollow beyond the pres- 
ent railway station. Along the shore of Spy Pond fled some 



CJPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 7 

of the British soldiers, throwing their muskets into its waters. 
At Spring Vallev, as the story goes, they meet Mother Bath- 
erick, calmly digging dandelions, and surrender to her for pro- 
tection. She leads them to the house of Captain Ephraim 
Frost and in giving them up to some men there said '* If ever 
you live to get back, you can tell King George that one old 
woman took six of his grenadiers prisoners." And the squib 
went the rounds of the opposition papers in England, *'If one 
old Yankee woman can take six grenadiers, how long will it 
take to end the war?"* 

At this point in front of us took place some of the hardest 
fighting of the day. From every wall and bush along the 
w^ay, the eager Minute-men had pursued the British troops 
doggedly retreating, sorely pressed by the growing numbers of 
the patriots hurrying from all the surrounding towns. Here 
the Minute-men from Danvers, the vanguard of the Essex 
regiment, who had covered the sixteen miles in four hours, 
and fully half the way on the run, hurled themselves upon the 
British line and turned the retreat almost into a rout. Seven 
of the Danvers men fell in this town. Indeed, in this com- 
munity more men were killed than in both Concord and 
Lexington. Under the tall monument in this church-vard sleep 
more of the patriot dead of that day than rest in any other 
town. In the fright and excitement of that perilous hour 
Jason Russell, Jason Winship, Jabez Wyman and nine others, 
unshrouded and uncofiined, are draw^n by oxen on a sled and 
"head to point" are hastily buried side by side in a common 
grave. Nine of them slept there as unknown dead till only 
recently a diligent historian of our Revolutionary history has 
rescued their names from oblivion. Near the wall and along 
the brook, the old burial place of the slaves, were buried many 
of the British dead. 

Just over the wall of this yard vv^as the tree-embowered 

* West Cambridge in 1775, Samuel Abbot Smith. 



8 CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 

house that I can just remember, the home of the village 
preacher, good old Parson Cooke, who served this people for 
more than forty-four years from 1739 to 1784. This house, 
built in 1740, still stands, though much changed and on 
another site. It was a hospital on the day of the battle and 
was often used as such during the siege of Boston. It is liter- 
ally true, as another has said, **On this very spot, British and 
American bullets once crossed each other with deadly aim." 
We are indeed on historic ground, hallowed by blood and sac- 
rifice and made sacred to us by the thought that almost from 
the days of Governor Winthrop, this soil has been trodden by 
the feet of our ancestors, as they brought their dead to lay them 
here or as they loitered in the churchyard to discuss the crops 
and the neighborhood gossip in the long noonings between Par- 
son Cooke's longer morning and afternoon sermons. 

If the historic setting is unique, it well befits the unique 
purpose that brings us here. Revering and honoring a Revo- 
lutionary soldier, Solomon Peirce, we, his descendants, gather 
here to dedicate a monument, rugged and simple as the man 
himself, that shall stand as a memorial of his patriotism, a token 
of our grateful appreciation of his services to the cause of liberty, 
and a reminder to the present generation and to generations yet 
to be of the patriotism and civic virtue of our early history. 
*' This stone shall speak to children yet unborn 
The deeds of men who made their country free." 

The story of the building of this monument is a simple one. 
An interested descendant of Solomon Peirce, in the course of 
genealogical research, found that his grave, as well as that of 
his wife, was unmarked. Whether no stone was ever erected 
or whether time had destroyed it, we do not know. That this 
was the place of his burial, we have definite knowledge. Mrs. 
Amanda Peirce Morton, the tenth child of his son Jonas, was 
present at his funeral and pointed out the place before she died, 
two years ago, at the age of eighty-eight. Mrs. Marietta Peirce 



CJPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE g 

Bailey, to whom the conception and reahzation of this memo- 
rial are almost entirely due, and to whose indefatigable energy 
and research we owe so much, set about to erect a memorial at 
this unmarked grave. She appealed to the descendants of the 
patriot for small sums for the purpose and a prompt response 
and a very deep interest resulted. Two hundred and twenty 
descendants of the man we honor have united in this tribute to 
his memory. H^s name and fame have been brought to the 
notice of us all, to some indeed who were unaware of their 
Revolutionary ancestry. All through the family there has been 
awakened a new impulse for research in family history and tra- 
dition, and new pride in the family name. We all of us owe 
a debt of gratitude to that member of the family who has given 
so generously of time and labor to make possible this enduring 
monument to a worthy name. 

Solomon Pierce, the man we commemorate today, was born 
in Lexington June 15, 1742, the sixth in a family of eight 
children of Jonas and Abigail Comee Peirce. He was a de- 
scendant in the sixth generation of John Peirce, a weaver, of 
Norwich, England, who came to this country in 1637, prob- 
ably in the ship **John and Dorothy " of Norwich. He 
settled in Watertown, where he was granted one lot and pur- 
chased three more, one his homestead of twelve acres. The 
fourth generation in line of descent, another John, seems to 
have pushed on to Waltham. The son of this man, Jonas, 
Solomon's father, married into a Lexington family, making 
Abigail Comee* his wife. They resided in Lexington and 

* The Comee or Coiney family were descendants of David Comee, who settled in 
VVoburn, Mass., in i66?, and moved to Concord in 1664. This David was grand- 
father to Abigail, and he was killed during King Philip's War in a fight with the 
Indians at Sudbury, Mass., April 21, 1676. He came from Scotland in the '•■John and 
Sarah," and landed in Charlestown in 1652. He was descended from the ancient clan 
Mcintosh and the traditional MacDuff, who overthrew Macbeth in I057. I wo of 
.Abigail's grand-nephews, as well as her son Solomon, were in the battle of Lexington, 
Joseph Comee being shot in the church where he had gone for a new supply of pow- 
der. See Comee Genealogy by Allen H. Burt of Boston, 1896 and 1898. 

Abigail's father, John Comee, married Martha Monroe, the eldest daughter of 
Wm. Monroe, descended from a distinguished Highland clan, who came from Scot- 
land in 1692. See Hudson's History of Lexington. 



TO 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 



there Solomon was born. Later, John, an older brother of 
Solomon, married and moved to Westminster, Massachusetts, 
and to that place the father and mother and some of the child- 
ren seem to have followed and became the forbears of a large 
number of Peirces in Westminster, Gardner, Fitchburg and that 
vicinity. So far as I can find, Solomon seems to be the only 
one left behind in the migration of the family and at the time 
of the Revolution, he appears to be the only man of his name 
in Lexington. He married December 15, 1763, Amity Fessen- 
den,* of an old Lexington family, whose birthday, June 15th, 
was curiously enough, that of her husband with a year's differ- 
ence in age. 

We know little of him previous to the Revolution. The 
Lexington town records show that he was Surveyor of High- 
ways in 1772 and in the votes of the town, we find the fol- 
lowing : 

**Also accepted the return of Mr. Solomon Peirce, Sur- 
veyor of Highways and granted an order to pay him 17s, 6d 
for six days and 3 hours work more than his rate and for a cart 
belonging to Mr. John Bridge broke in the Town Service." 
In the same year, we find : "Granted an order to pay Solo- 
mon Peirce 2^, 6s in full for his carting Rev. Mr. Clarke's 
wood." He seems to have been a man of some means. The 
records of the County Registry of Deeds at East Cambridge 
(See Appendix) show that he acquired from his father Jonas, the 
next March after his marriage, 14 acres of land in that part of 
Lexington near Waltham, land which is now situated on Con- 
cord Ave., part of the so called 'Bryant' Place, the estate 
next west of the Kite End School House. Here was his home 
for many years and near him lived Capt. Parker, Bowman and 

* Amity Fessenden was one of the fourth generation from Nicholas Fessenden of 
Cambridge, who was born in England about 1650, and died in Cambridge in lyig. It 
is said that he came over to inherit the property of a childless uncle, John Fessenden, 
who came from Canterbury, England, at an earlier date. Thomas Fessenden, son of 
Nicholas and grandfather of Amity, came to Lexington about 1708. See Hudson's 
History of Lexington. 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE ii 

other members of the Lexington Minute-men. In 1765 he 
bought 4 acres more adjoining. The deeds record him as a 
Cordwainer or Shoemaker by trade. He probably com- 
bined as did so many of the people of that day, a trade with 
his farming. After the Revolution in 1783 he bought consid- 
erable more land, practically the remainder of his father's old 
farm and ^-j acres besides — all adjoining his original plot of land, 
giving him at one time a total of 95 acres. His name is found 
on many of the tax accounts of the town of Lexington with the 
number and value of his horses, cows, etc. and his real estate. 
In 1783 as recorded in the tax account he had a personal es- 
tate of 62^, and real estate of 344^^, a not inconsiderable sum 
in those days. He was undoubtedly a farmer and day by day 
pursued the even tenor of his way in the countless details of the 
busy farmer's life. 

From the obscurity of this quiet life, the events of 1775 
bring him quickly into the light of history, for history was made 
in that little town of Lexington as it has rarely been made be- 
fore. In every Massachusetts town, in that fateful year, com- 
panies of Minutemen were enrolled and drilled, and to the 
Lexington company, commanded by Captain Parker, a near 
neighbor, belonged Solomon Peirce, then an able-bodied man 
of thirty-three. In the gray light of the morning of the mem- 
orable April day, he stood with that little band of sixty or sev- 
enty patriots on Lexington Common to face the advancing col- 
umn of eight hundred British troops. The story of that first 
stand for American Independence needs no repetition. You 
remember well the insulting command of Pitcairn, the brave 
words of Captain Parker, the scattering shots, the deadly vol- 
ley and the dispersal of that gallant band of whom almost a 
quarter were killed or wounded. Among the latter was our 
ancestor, whose blood was part of that first baptism ot blood 
that betokened the new birth of a great people. It will be 
remembered that on the morning of that battle Capt. Parker, 



12 CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 

after waiting long for the appearance of the enemy, had dis- 
missed his men for i)reakfast at the neighboring farm houses 
with the order that they were to reassemble at the first alarm. 
The British took the scouts sent out by Parker and were almost 
upon the common when the alarm was sounded, and only a few 
of the patriot band were ready to meet the on-coming enemy. 
All accounts agree that Solomon Peirce was wounded while 
getting over a wall hastening to join his company. He had 
been perhaps at the Bucknam Tavern near by, where many of 
the men from a distance took breakfast. His wound, probably 
in the ankle, although some tradition places it in the thigh, was 
not a serious one. At the dispersal of the little band he 
hobbled home. The wound was done up by his wife, using a 
bandana handkerchief, and it is said that he returned to the 
highway in Menotomy to take part with the Minute-men in the 
hazardous fire that pursued the British m that disastrous retreat. 
That the wound was not serious we know, because he was on 
duty at the Battle of Bunker Hill June 17th and i 8th ; but 
either on account of partial disability or as a matter of a military 
detail, he was stationed to guard the roads from Cambridge, 
perhaps to give warning of any flank movement from that direc- 
tion.* 

Toward the last of the siege of Boston, the military archives 
at the State House show that he served five days, March 4 — 8, 
1776 at Dorchester Heights, as a member of John Bridge's 
Lexington Company. -j- 

In the campaign against Burgoyne of 1777, he was sergeant 
in a Concord company of Colonel Sam. Ballard's regiment, un- 
der Capt. Geo. Minott, and the records attest that he traveled 
220 miles in eleven days and that he was paid the sum of nine 
pounds, eleven shillings, and eight pence for service from August 

* Massachusetts Archives. 146: J09. 
t Massachusetts Archives. 17: 64. 



CJPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE ij 

1 6 to November 30 of that year.* Burgoyne surrendered 
October 17th. In 1780, June 7th, we find him made First 
Lieutenant of Capt. William Munroe's company, the 3rd Co. 
of the Third Middlesex Regiment of Mass. Militia under the 
command of Colonel Francis Faulkner. f Of this same com- 
pany, after the war closed, then a part of the State Militia, he 
was made Captain July 25, 1784, the regiment being then 
under the command of Colonel Sam. Lamson of Weston. He 
resigned his commission and retired from the service, April 23, 
of the next year.J His long and generous service to his 
country is amply attested by unimpeachable records and is the 
special reason for our honoring him here today by this memo- 
rial stone. 

After the war, he seems to have remained in Lexington 
until 1788. These later years in Lexington, however, were 
apparently years of financial misfortune. Though he bought 
considerable land in 1783 he evidently borrowed the money to 
do so. It was a dangerous time for such an experiment. You 
will remember how values were dissipated through the inflated 
paper currency of the time. The finances of the nation and of 
the individual were on a very unstable basis. In those times to 
buy a suit of clothes required an amount of paper money to be 
measured by the peck. The Worcester Spy preferred to take 
subscriptions in salt pork rather than in any paper money. 
You may read with profit John Fiske's chapter on the financial 
stress of the years, which he truly calls the critical period of our 
nation's history and from that we may learn what was possibly 
the reason for the financial misfortune of the man who had 
been prosperous. According to Fiske the worst feature of 
this financial state was a false and fleeting show of prosperity 
which was followed by sudden collapse and great hardship 
throughout New England. ** Homesteads were sold for the 

* Massachusetts Archives, 2: 217 ana 21: 79. 

t Massachusetts Archives, 28: 66. 

X Massachusetts Roster, 1782-1788, page42, Adj. Gen'l's Office. 



14 CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 

payment of foreclosed mortgages, cattle was seized in distrainer 
and often the farmer himself was sent to jail." To borrow 
coin money to the amount of 400 oz. in such times and to 
have to pay it by currency of so little value might well be the 
reason for any man's financial downfall. Whatever be the cause 
he disposed of his property to Joseph Underwood the 26th day 
of November 1784. 

His name disappears from the Lexington tax lists in 1788 
and we find that this same year he and his wife Amity weie 
received into the Second Precinct Church of Cambridge, now 
Arlington, from the church at Lexington. His life from 
this time on seems to be closely connected with that of his 
second child and oldest son, Jonas. He lived, when we have 
first knowledge of him in this town, in the so-called Amos 
Russell House, still standing, and which you may visit this 
afternoon, which belonged to his son Jonas, and which Jonas 
afterward sold to Amos Russell, the husband of his sister 
Elizabeth, or Betsy. Jonas, after living in various places, the 
so called Marsh Place on the edge of what is now Belmont, 
the Winning Farm on the edge of Lexington and Woburn, 
now used as a summer outing home for poor children, the 
afore-mentioned Amos Russell House, bought March 12th, 
1803, one hundred years ago, the large farm composing the 
whole of what is now Arlington Heights, for many years there- 
after known as Peirce's Hill. The property was then called 
Spring Hill Farm and was formerly owned by the well known 
Appleton family of Boston and used as a sort of country home. 
Jonas bought of Thomas Perkins, who married a daughter of 
Nathaniel Appleton. The purchase included about two hun- 
dred and fifty acres, a mansion house, a smaller house and 
barn, a piece of land called the Bear Hill Pasture and a piece 
of salt marsh on the Cambridge river. To the smaller house, 
from the Amos Russell House, he later brought his father and 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE ij 

mother, Solomon and Amity, and there they lived for many 
years. 

It was a beautiful situation with an expanse of view un- 
equalled in the neighborhood of Boston. On the extreme top 
of the hill, the highest point of the farm, where now stands the 
stand-pipe of the Metropolitan Water Commission and where 
we shall later go for our reunion, a park was laid out bv the 
Appletons and trees planted in a circle, from which this crest 
was long called Circle Hill. It was surrounded by a fence 
with an ornamental gateway, called Charlotte's Gate after 
Appleton's daughter Charlotte. 

For this property Jonas paid $9,750 and in less than seven 
vears he had paid the mortgages and held it clear of all incum- 
brance. For nearly a century the hill remained in the posses- 
sion of the family. In this old Mansion House, long since de- 
stroyed to make room for a newer residence, Solomon Peirce 
died in October, 1821, surviving his wife ten years, during 
which he Hved with his son Jonas. Both lie buried side by 
side under or near this stone. 

Such is the brief record of this man's life, gathered together 
after many years of almost oblivion for the satisfaction and pro- 
fit of his descendants. I would that we could unlock the 
archives of the forgotten past to read the whole story of his 
long life, of which we get but fleeting glimpses. He was a man 
of the people ; a soldier of his country, winning honor for him- 
self and a place among the Nation's heroes. Time and place 
gave him a great opportunity ; his was the readiness of the 
Minute-men of 1775. Honor to his memory! 

This, doubtless, seems to some the record of far-distant time; 
yet it is a witness of the really brief span of our country's 
historv, that the chasm between Solomon Peirce and today is 
so easily bridged. The wife of his son Jonas, Lydia Prentiss 
Peirce, with whom he lived as an old man, lived till 1865, 
surviving her husband thirty-three years and dying at 94. She 



j6 CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 

was the last survivor of those v^ho remember the Battle of Lex- 
ington, and from her lips have been preserved many of the de- 
tails of the part played by West Cambridge men in that battle. 
It was at her father's house that the women and children on 
the line of march found refuge on that day. Many here present 
have visited her, in the old house still standing on the corner 
of Grove Street, where she lived after her husband's death, and 
have heard from her lips the story of the old days. 

But the nearest descendants to Solomon we know, now liv- 
ing, the last survivors of their generation, are Mrs. Adeline 
True of Everett, Mrs. Elmira Storer of Arlington, and Mrs. 
Mary Ann Peirce Thompson of Dorchester, Mrs. True 
is a granddaughter of Solomon, the daughter of his young- 
est son William. She is 87 years old and had long looked 
forward to sharing this day with us ; but a fall and a broken 
hip, received last March, prevent. She well remembers Solo- 
mon Peirce, and his visits to her father's house and recalls that 
her mother used often to braid his hair in a queue. . Were she 
present today, she would be for us the connecting link between 
our Revolutionary ancestor and our own day. Mrs. Storer is 
the daughter of Samuel Peirce and is 84. Mrs. Thompson is 
of the Leonard Peirce branch and is 88. 

Of the same generation, but not of the direct descent, is the 
oldest person here today, Mrs. Harriet Locke Peirce, in her 90th 
year, the wife of Thomas P. Peirce, a grandson of Solomon. 
Mrs. Thaddeus Peirce, Jr., the daughter-in-law of Solomon's 
son Thaddeus, is living at an advanced age. The oldest lineal 
descendant present is Mrs. Melinda Grant Corliss, 77 years 
old, Solomon's great-grand-daughter. She brings with her for 
your inspection one of the few relics of Solomon's household, 
a pewter platter bearing the initials of his wife, *♦ A. F." 
(Amity Fessenden). It happens, too, that the youngest in 
attendance is her great-grand-daughter, one year old, the sev- 
enth generation from Solomon and Amity. 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 



II 



The descendants of our ancestor and his wife have been 
numerous, so far as we can gather facts, they number of the 
living over seven hundred. They had twelve children, eight 
sons and four daughters, all but one of whom, who died in 
infancy, lived to be married. They were as follows : 

CHILDREN OF SOLOMON AND AMITY PEIRCE. 

1. Amity, b. 1765; m, — Harrington; m. 2d John 
Goodwin; d. 1829. 

2. Jonas, b. 1766; m. Lydia Prentiss, dau. Geo. Pren- 
tiss; b. April, 1 77 1; d. Sept., 1865. He d. Jan. 
1833- 

3. Abiel, b. 1768; m. Peggy Russell, 1789; m. 2d 
Anna Kingman, 1801; m. by Rev. Peter Thacher both 
times; Abiel d. 18 16 and was buried Copp's Hill, 
new ground. 

4. Solomon, b. 1770; m. Polly Green, 1794; "^- by 
Rev. John Clark. 

5. Samuel, b. 1772; m. Sophia Stedman; b. 1777; d. 
I 841. He d. May, 1861. 

6. Abijah, b. 1775; m. Mary Prentiss, sister of Lydia 
2d m. Lucy Emery of Winchendon. He d. Oct. 
1843. 

Betsy, b. 1777; m. Amos Russell, 1793; b. 1768 
d. 1828. She died March, 1844. 

Lucy, b. 1779; "^- Josiah Ditson of Boston, 1797 
d. 1859. 

Thaddeus, b. 1781; m. Lucv Learned; b. 1780 
d. 1837. He d. April, 1838.' 
10. Leonard, b. 1783; m. Relief Allen, 1803; b. 1784 
d. 1845. He d. 1846. 

William, b. 1786; m. Elizabeth Floyd, b. 1778 
d. 1816; m. 2d. Sarah Perkins; b. 1789; d. 1859 
m. 3d. Caroline M. Mansfield; b. 1802; d. 1882. 
He d. March, 1878, age 92.* 

* A very great amount of work has already been put into the preparation of a 
complete genealogical table of the descendants of Solomon Peirce and it is hoped to 
have it published as soon as it is completed. All data should be sent to Mrs. Mari- 
etta Peirce Bailey, 1172 Mass. Ave., Arlington, Mass. 



i8 CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 

Compared with some families, the Peirces have not been a 
migratory race and today a large part of the descendants live in 
or near this town, which is only a few miles from the town 
where the first of the name settled; most of them live in old 
Middlesex; and very few outside of this state. Only now and 
then a member of the family has wandered to the great West or 
South, and we are still essentially what we have always been, a 
New England family of the sturdy stock that swell the ranks of 
the common people of this country, the bone and sinew of the 
Nation's life.* Here in Old New England our stock still sends 
down its strong roots into soil watered by the sweat, and tears, 
and blood of twelve generations of an honored name. 

Members of the Peirce family gathered here, ours is a price- 
less heritage of ancestry. It means much when there is handed 
down to a community the inspiring traditions of heroic deeds 
and self-sacrificing patriotism. The old common at Lexington 
lends a perpetual and splendid glory to that quiet town. The 
events that took place in this community where so many brave 
men met a soldier's death, add a dignity and prestige to the 
place beyond all the wealth of stocks and bonds, or commo- 
dities, or beautiful public buildings. The tide of civic pride 
runs higher, the pulse beats quicker, and the fires of patriotic 
devotion burn brighter, because we catch the spirit of the deeds 
done within these borders. We are or have been citizens of 
no mean city. 

And so with us as a family, the story of the man we honor 
today is in a measure, our story. It is a part and a glorious 
part of our birthright. The fact that he drew sword in the 
service of his country in that first struggle for liberty that made 
us a free people, is our great heritage, our perpetual inspiration. 



* There are, of course, exceptions to this statement. A grandson of Leonard, 
born in Medford, went South before the war, and was the father of fifteen children. 
A large number of his descendants are still living in the South. We know that de- 
scendants of Solomon Peirce are living in 21 different states from Maine to Califor- 
nia. The general statement made above is, however, notably true. 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE /p 

It calls us to duty and service. We may not wield the sword, 
but, in the walks of peace, there still are opening to us 
abundant opportunities for the patriot's service and the patriot's 
devotion. Worthy sons best honor patriot sires. 

And so, we, gathered here today, amid historic scenes, the 
representatives of an honorable name, do dedicate this monu- 
ment to Captain Solomon Peirce, a memorial to a soldier and 
patriot of the American Revolution, a token of our respect for 
his memory and our honor of his deeds, and a reminder to the 
youth of today and of the great future that to serve one's coun- 
try well is ever the supreme and blessed duty of the true Amer- 
ican. 

** On this green bank, by this soft stream. 

We set today a votive stone ; 
That memory may his deeds redeem 

When, like our sires, our sons are gone." 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 21 



DIXTT ET FECIT. 

(Motto on Peirce family coat of arms.) 

WRITTEN FOR MONUMENT DEDICATION 

BY 

ESTHER BAILEY. 

He spoke, and ever at the uttered word. 

On eager feet went boldlv forth to do. 

Few were the words ; in deeds his will must speak. 

Peaceful he walked his humble daily round. 

His country called and swift his answer came, 
Staunchly he stood on Lexington's broad green. 
To shed his blood and echo Parker's cry, 
** If they mean war, here let the war begin." 

So on he went, his weapon still clasped firm. 
To Charlestown's height, to Bennington's far fields. 
Again with Washington's brave host enrolled. 
And last, with peace, to daily task at home. 

O patriot sire ! How can we honor thee — 
We, honored now and ever by thy deeds ? 
This stone we raise to teach thy loyal sons 
Th^t they must pay the debt in deeds like thine. 

Sav not he wns^ 'tis we are dead indeed. 
If blind to duty, deaf to nation's need. 
We cry not boldly, "Still our country calls! 
Dixit et Fecit. Let his blood speak now!" 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 23 



APPENDIX A. 

Abstract of Records, at East Cambridge Registry of 
Deeds of Property of Capt. Solomon Peirce of 
Lexington. 

made by j. a. bailey, jr. 

On January 10, 1731 by deed of that date Jonas Peirce, 
the father of Solomon Peirce, purchased of Joseph White of 
Lexington for the sum of Two hundred (200) Pounds, Forty 
(4.0) acres of land,* hounded Southerly bv the Town highway: 
Westerly by a stone wall; Northerly by land of John Stone, 
and bounded further on land of Underwood and Wellington. 
In this deed, which is recorded in Book 34 Page 20, Jonas 
Peirce is described as a cordwainer of Lexington. This tract 
of Forty (40) acres was the first parcel purchased by the Peirce 
family in the locality which later became the home of Solomon 
Peirce. 

In 1 749 Jonas Peirce of Lexington, cordwainer, (spelled 
*'corwainer ") for Five hundred (500) pounds old tenor, 
bought of Joshua Warren of Waltham Fourteen (14) acres in 
Lexington, bounded Easterly and Northerly on Benjamin 
Smith; Westerly on John Stone; and Southerly on Joseph Un- 
derwood, Jr. This parcel adjoined, or was near to, the parcel 
of Forty (40) acres which had been purchased by Jonas Peirce 
in 1731. 

By deed dated March 22, 1764 Jonas Peirce of Lexington, 
cordwainer, in consideration of Seventy (70) pounds paid by 
Solomon Peirce of Lexington, cordwainer, conveyed to Solo- 
mon Peirce Fourteen (14) acres, partly upland and partly 

* This tract of Forty (40) acres is a portion of the farm known as the " Bryant 
Place,'' on Concord Avenue in the town of Lexington, being the estate next west of 
the Kite End Schoolhouse. 



24 CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 

meadow land, bounded Easterly and Northerly on Smith : 
Westerly on Stone; and Southerly on land of Joseph Under- 
wood, jr., "together with the Northerly side of my dwel- 
ling house in Lexington aforesaid, being a new lean-to with the 
land on which the said lean-to stands, with sufficient yard-room 
and privilege to use and improve the same with the liberty of 
using and improving the well belonging to said house and also 
eleven feet of my barn in said Lexington, etc." This was the 
fourteen-acre parcel purchased by Jonas Peirce of Joshua Warren 
in 1749. The wife of Jonas Peirce, Abigail Peirce, signed by 
mark. 

By deed dated 1765 Solomon Peirce bought of B. Smith et. 
al. Four (4) acres adjoining the above described Fourteen ( 1 4) 
acres. By deed dated 1783 Solomon Peirce bought of E. 
Munroe et al. Seven (7) acres adjoining the above Fourteen 
(14) acres. By deed dated 1783 Solomon Peirce bought of 
Jonas Peirce Forty (40) acres adjoining the above Fourteen (14) 
acres, this Forty-acre lot being the premises bought by Jonas 
Peirce of Joseph White in 173 i. By deed dated 1783 Solo- 
mon Peirce bought of Ezekiel Hall Thirty (30) acres adjoin- 
ing the above described Fourteen (14 acres.) 

Solomon Peirce had therefore acquired by five deeds, — 
1 4 acres 

• 4 ** 

7 '* 

40 - 

30 - 

making a total of 95 acres 
It appears that Solomon Peirce was obliged to borrow money 
to make his purchases of 1783, for in that year by bond and 
mortgage recorded in Book 83 Page 331, he gave a bond to the 
amount of Eight hundred (800) ounces of coined silver to 
secure Four hundred (400) ounces of coined silver to Elizabeth 
Gray of Boston. This would be called today a mortgage of 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 25 

Four hundred (400) ounces of coined silver. This mortgage 
has never been discharged on the records, but undoubtedly was 
paid. 

In 1784 Solomon Peirce deeded about Ninety (90) acres of 
his land for the express consideration of Four hundred (400) 
pounds to J. Chandler, Treasurer of the Town of Lexington, 
and in the same year, 1784, he conveyed a portion of his land 
to Thomas Fessenden and Matthew Bridge. What the pur- 
pose of these conveyances was, is not clear, but it would seem 
that they were made as security for money loaned or some such 
purpose, because later in the same year, 1784, J. Chandler, 
Treasurer, and Thomas Fessenden, and Matthew Bridge re- 
conveyed to Solomon Peirce all that he had conveyed to them. 
(See Book 88 Page 122.) 

By deed dated November 26, 1784 Solomon Peirce sold to 
Joseph Underwood his entire farm of Ninety-five (95) acres 
with his mansion house and barn, this being the main portion 
of the present Bryant Estate on Concord Avenue, Lexington. 
This estate remained in the Underwood family from 1784 
until about i860 or 1865, and was then conveyed to Mrs. 
Bryant, who now owns it. 

From the records it seems that Solomon Peirce did not own 
any land after the sale of his farm in 1784. In 1770 he had 
received a deed from S. Fessenden of one moiety in three (3) 
tracts of land of Twenty-six (26) acres. Twelve (12) acres, 
and Fourteen (14) acres, but this seems to have been conveyed 
by him in 1774 and 1776 by deeds to B. Wellington and J. 
Williams, recorded respectively in Book 75 Page 428 and 
Book 77 Page 240. 

In signing deeds, the wife of Solomon Peirce spelled her 
name Amitty Peirce. Solomon Peirce, like his father, Jonas, is 
described in all the early deeds as a cordwainer, later he is 
described as a yeoman [farmer] , and in the last deed as a gen- 
teelman [gentleman] . 



26 CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 

Concord Avenue, which is the present name of the street on 
which the Jonas Peirce and Solomon Peirce homestead was 
located, was constructed in 1804. The portion of Concord 
Avenue in front of the Peirce Estate^ was, however, a part of 
the old and crooked road which ran from Lexington to Wal- 
tham. Traces of this road may be seen through the fields and 
woods where it comes to Concord Avenue, east of the Peirce 
Homestead, and comes out of Concord Avenue, west of the 
Peirce Homestead near the Cutler Place, so-called. In build- 
ing Concord Avenue portions of the old road were used in 
several other places as well as in front of the Peirce Homestead. 

The following, the deed of Solomon's property to Joseph 
Underwood, will be of interest : — 

Know All Men by these Presents that I Solomon Peirce of 
Lexington in the County of Middlesex Sc Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts Genteelman for & in consideration of the sum of 
three hundred Eighty Pounds L money to me in Hand paid by 
Joseph Underwood of said Lexington in the County and Com- 
monwealth above said Bricklayer have given granted bargained 
sold and relinquished and by these Presents do give grant bargain 
sell & convey to said Joseph Underwood his Heirs & Assigns 
forever my farm in said Lexington consisting of one Mansion 
House & Barn together with about Ninety fiv^e Acres of land be 
the same more or less together with all the 'out houses privileges 
and appurtenances thereto belonging butted & bounded as fol- 
loweth to it. Southerly on the Town Road Westerly on the 
lands of the heirs of Joseph White deceased as the wall now 
stands to where Moses Reeds land Corners then on lands of the 
Heirs of Joseph Bridge deceased to the Stake & Stone in the 
Fence then there running East and bounding North on Lydia 
Harrington as the stake now^ stands to William Smith's or 
Joseph Smith's land then Easterly on said Smith's to a tall pine 
in the sw^amp about four Rods then on said Smith to the Ditch 
then on Joseph Smith the Widow Anna Smith & Benjamin 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 27 

Smith to a Corner Easterly on said Benjamin Smith Anna 
Smith then Southerly on William Smith to a pine in the swamp 
marked W. then southerly on said William Smith to Stump & 
Stone where Daniel Harrington licked William Smith then the 
same Course to two small maples marked then Easterly on said 
William Smith and Jonathan Smith to the first mentioned 
Bounds or however otherways bounded or reputed to be bound- 
ed To Have And To Hold the said described Premises to the 
said Joseph Underwood his Heirs Administrators Executors or 
Assigns forever to his & their Use & Behoof forever with all the 
priviledges & appurtenances thereto belonging And I do cove- 
nant with the said Joseph Underwood that I am lawfully seized 
& possessed of the Premises and that I have good right to sell 
the same to Joseph Underwood & his assigns forever & that 
they are free & clear of all Incumbrances And that I will 
Warrant & defend the same to the said Joseph Underwood & 
his Assigns forever against the lawful Claims and Demands of 
all persons whatsoever In Testimony whereof I have hereunto 
set my hand & Seal with Amity, my wife in token of her con- 
sent & relinquishment of her Dower this twenty six Day of 
November one thousand seven hundred & eighty four & in the 
ninth year of the Independance of America Solomon & Seal 
Amitty Peirce & Seal Signed sealed and delivered in Presence 
of us Nelly Fessenden Francis Bowman Middlesex ss : Novem- 
ber 26, 1784 The above named Solomon & Amitty person- 
ally appeared & acknowledged the above instrument to be their 
voluntary Act & Deed Before me Robert Harrington justice 
Peace Middlesex ss Cambridge November 29 1784 22 minutes 
after 9 o' Clock A.M. Received c*v: Entered 

By Thad Mason Reg. 



CAPT. SOLOMON PEIRCE 29 



APPENDIX B. 

The following articles belonging to Solomon Peirce and his 
wife are still in existence. It is possible that there may be 
others, not vet brought to our attention : — 

Solomon Peirce's gun, which he used during the Revolution- 
ary War, is in the possession of Edward A. Hodge, Medford, 
Massachusetts, a descendant of Solomon's son Samuel. It 
came to the present owner from his uncle Charles Edward 
Peirce of Medford, Mass. -"^ 

A plate, mended with putty, in the possesion of Mrs. Susan 
Peirce Hodge, Amesbury, of the same branch of the family. 

A large pewter platter with the initals A. F. (Amity Fessen- 
den) is the property of Mrs. Melinda Grant Corliss of Bill- 
erica, Mass., a descendant in the Jonas Peirce branch. She 
has also a cherry dining table of the old style, which came to 
her mother ^fter Solomon's death. 

Small, round, solid, cherry table, called in the family, ** the 
light stand," in possession of Eben F. Peirce, Leominster, 
Mass. 

A **camphire" bottle, once the property of Amity Peirce, 
belongs to Mrs. B. Tappan Floyd, Winthrop, Mass., of the 
Thaddeus Peirce branch. 

A half-dozen silver spoons are the property of Mrs. Peirce 
Frederick, of Charl^stown, also of the Thaddeus Peirce descent. 



f It was the idea to hand it down to the eldest son. Charles Peirce of Amesbury, 
was eldest son of Samuel. Charles Edward, eldest son of Charles, was born and died in 
Medford, without children. Edward A. Hodge son of Susan Peirce Hodge is the 
eldest in that line. 



NOTE 

An association recently organized aims to bring into closer 
union the descendants of Solomon Peirce. Its objects are as 
stated in the constitution:— '* To bring into closer union the 
descendants of Solomon Peirce ; to provide for occasional fami- 
ly reunions; to collect and publish historical and genealogical 
matter relating to the family ; and in every way to promote 
historical knowledge and the spirit of kinship." All lineal 
descendants of Solomon Peirce of Lexington, together with 
wives and husbands of said descendants are eligible to member- 
ship. The fee is only $i. and includes the membership of 
husband and wife and all minor children. It would be a great 
help to the association, if everyone eligible would become a 
member. There are no annual dues. Membership blanks 
y be obtained by addressing Mrs. Marietta Peirce Bailey, 

172 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, Mass. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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